Perplexity's Comet browser faces copyright lawsuits and security breaches
Perplexity faces copyright infringement lawsuits from multiple media organizations while its Comet AI browser reportedly exposes user security vulnerabilities. The company launched a Comet Plus revenue-sharing subscription to address copyright concerns, but separately encountered significant security issues affecting user data.
What happened
Perplexity faced multiple copyright infringement lawsuits from Japanese media organizations including Yomiuri Shimbun and Asahi Shimbun, which alleged the company violated copyright law through reproduction and public transmission rights.
The Comet browser was reported to expose user security vulnerabilities, reportedly allowing account takeover in under 150 seconds through access to email verification codes and personal data.
Perplexity launched a Comet Plus subscription service priced at US$5 monthly, allocating 80% of revenue to publishers and media outlets to address copyright concerns, with an initial revenue pool of US$42.5 million.
Reported impact
Publishers and media organizations reported unauthorized access to their content through Comet Agent's operations, which were not covered under existing agreements between Perplexity and content providers.
Users of the Comet browser faced risks of account compromise and data theft through security vulnerabilities affecting their email verification codes and personal information.
Index analysis
The copyright disputes centered on whether Perplexity's scraping and use of publisher content constituted infringement of reproduction and public transmission rights under Japanese law.
Security researchers identified vulnerabilities in the Comet browser's handling of user authentication and verification processes that could allow unauthorized access to user accounts.
Governance controls
Perplexity implemented a revenue-sharing model through Comet Plus to compensate publishers, though the US$5 monthly subscription fee remained significantly lower than traditional media pricing of US$20–US$30, raising questions about publisher acceptance of the arrangement.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.